Turbulence
an excerpt

The bus stopped and they stepped out into the diner. They sat in two booths, just as before. Byrd ordered a burger and a beer.
“Why do you have to drink that stuff?” asked Kaitlyn. “It’s poison, you know.”
“It’s tasty poison,” replied Byrd. The blonde- haired woman behind the counter gave him a look. Jason smiled back.
* * *
“Umm… well… let’s take a look, shall we? I think, um, soda water, please.”
“Sprite.”
“Water.”
“Dr. Pepper.”
“Water, please,” finished April.
“That will do,” said the waitress. “Your food is on its way. I’ll be right back with the drinks.”
“Thank you,” said April.
“Thank you, dear,” said the waitress.
At that moment, a group of teenagers came into the room. One was mostly white, and the others seemed to be of varying descent. They came in, very loudly, and sat down at the empty booth next to April and Jay’s.
The waitress came over somewhat cautiously, after whispering something to Margaret. She pushed her long, blonde hair back and asked, “What can I get for you gentlemen this morning?”
The lightest kid, who seemed to be their leader, took a long look at her. She frowned. He said, “Give us a little more time, okay?” She left without a word.
Jay glanced behind April. “This is exactly what we need,” he said to himself. “Oh, sorry. Anyway, as I was saying, I had plans to go into the Navy or the Coast Guard, but it didn’t really work out. My friends and I made this sort of vow, it was all sort of silly – I mean, we were young, what can you do? – but in any case, we vowed that we would search for adventure and the like. I actually believed it. I don’t know if they did. But the little bit of training I got in preparation for the military seemed like a good experience. I don’t really remember much of it now… some stuff about general weapons, hypothermia, etcetera, and then some of it came from experience on the ocean. Anyway…” he trailed off. The waitress had been replaced by a waiter, who was tending to the kids. They were ordering somewhat loudly and rudely, and Margaret was watching with dissatisfied interest.
“And that’s it,” said the leader. “Where’d that waitress go, anyway?”
“Cool it,” said one of the others.
“I’ll tell you to cool it! This is the best joint in town, and I expect to get served how I want to!” He stood up and started yelling very loudly. “You wanna take me? Huh?”
“That’s it,” said Margaret. “We have the right to refuse service to anyone.” By now the entire diner had gone completely silent.
The teenager made a move as if he was going to push the manager, and at that point instincts took over and Jay stood up. Will quickly followed.
“You heard her!” said Jay, whose voice seemed to have leaped from his stomach without any sort of forethought. “You can cool off or leave.”
The kid looked over at him. “This place is full of shit anyway,” he said. “Come on, guys, let’s leave it to rot without us.” His clan followed him. The entire diner froze, in stunned silence, as they stood, walked to the door, and left, the door bell beeping, and finally, they all let out breath at once. The waitress ran over to Margret.
“Oh, grandma, are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” said Margaret. “I’m a tough enough woman to take some stupid kids.”
The waitress looked up a Jay. “Thank you,” she said.
Jay seemed surprised. “Uh, no problem.”
“Yes, thank you,” said Margaret. “It takes real bravery to stand up for someone you don’t even know.”
“It really does,” said Margaret’s granddaughter. “We can’t thank you enough.”
“I’m just glad to help,” said Jay.
* * *
The woman behind the counter came up to Byrd. “I think I remember you,” she said.
Jason looked at her. “I remember you, too. You’re that waitress. You’re Margaret’s granddaughter.” Suddenly he was flooded with memories. They were good memories, ones that he felt like remembering. Ones that he wanted to talk about, for once. “Sit down,” he said. Kaitlyn gave the woman a suspicious look as she sat down.
“The name is Wren, Wren Richardson.”
“Jason Byrd.”
“It’s about time you came back to this place,” she said.
“Why’s that?” asked Jason.
“It’s had issues. Margaret – she’s sick. I’ve had to take over for her since my father died.”
“I’m sorry,” said Jason. He was telling the truth.
“I kept praying, hoping, for a sign that everything would be all right,” said Wren. Her face seemed filled with sadness, a sadness that was not present six years ago. Her face had been lined, relined, hardened from the soft face that it was before. The joyful soul had been smothered; she was a shadow of her former self. “You’re my sign.”
For the first time in a long time, Jason Byrd looked into her eyes, and a single tear fell down his face.